


Lingering Hope

by QueenOfAllLies



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Betrayal, Canon Compliant, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Relationships, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Heartbreak, Marley (Shingeki no Kyojin), OC insert, Romance, Secret Titan, Spoilers, Timeskip, Titan Reveal, alternating pov
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:22:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29851821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfAllLies/pseuds/QueenOfAllLies
Summary: Reiner Braun was never a part of the plan she created for herself before joining the Military.Avery Pisces was never a part of the mission he was sent on years before.So then how, they wondered, had it come to this? How were they standing on opposite sides of the world regretting so many choices?No, that wasn’t true. They didn’t regret a thing. They just wished their story ended differently.
Relationships: Levi Ackerman/Original Female Character(s), Reiner Braun/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	1. Sea of Tears

**Author's Note:**

> Ohayou!   
> I'm definitely a Reiner simp and therefore I did what Reiner simps do.  
> Wrote a fanfic~!  
> Let's see if I can keep this up.

The ocean crashing against the shore was a sound they had never heard before. Although it seemed chaotic, the noise was also… Peaceful. The sun hit the water in such a way that it twinkled, sparkling in a way the lakes they were used to could never. While she observed her friends goofing off, the girl stood with her arms wrapped around her waist, a sad smile on her face.

It was difficult to enjoy a moment you worked hard for when your entire world had been crushed. Nothing she thought she knew had been true and it broke her heart into a million pieces. She had been shown the light several times and the moment she finally had it within her grasp it was taken.

Someone wrapped their arms around her shoulders, no doubt trying to comfort her. She recognized this person as her sister and the moment she looked up to her, the tears escaped her eyes.

As hard as she tried to fight it, to keep herself from ruining this glorious moment, she was losing the battle. Losing wasn’t new to her, considering the number of things she had lost in this past year alone. Friends, people she considered family, _the love of her life._ This would be another loss to claim.

The quiet and muffled sounds of her cries slowly grew louder as she opened herself up even more. The once stoic and withdrawn girl was no more; she had become vulnerable and was letting everyone she cared about see her vulnerability. Their laughter stopped and they fell silent, letting her cries and the ocean fill the ambient silence.

Their anchor, the one person who managed to keep them all grounded, had broken.

“What is this?” She gasped, burying her face into her sister’s jacket to hide the pain.

The word love was whispered into her ear, causing her to look up again at her sister with red, desperate eyes.

“But why does it hurt so much?!”

“Because it was real.”

Her sister’s words only caused more pain as she thought to herself; when had it become real?


	2. Like a Bird

Their eyes first met during the introduction of the 104th Cadet Corps, Southern Division.

They were standing across from each other, waiting for their ‘initiation’. Even though their eyes were locked, they thought nothing of it. Their minds had been elsewhere.

Commandant Shadis had been making his way through the group of recruits, interrogating them, intimidating them, attempting to break their relaxing habits. Some grew in anticipation of being yelled at, wondering if they would crack under the pressure. Reiner and Avery were no such people as he made his way between the two of them, Reiner preparing himself.

It caught them both slightly off guard when Shadis turned his sights on her instead.

“State your business!” He shouted, spit narrowly missing her face. She was reeling from the sudden change, placing her light-brown fist over her heart.

“Avery Pisces, Calenth District, Wall Rose. I’m here to free humanity from captivity!” Her voice was loud, and her eyes burned with determination. After hearing her name, Shadis internally groaned.

Her sister, Kai Pisces, was a Section Commander. One he had promoted, in fact, when he was Commander. 

‘ _Another pain in the ass…’_ He thought to himself.

“Yet another Pisces wanting to save humanity. Your sister hasn’t told you you’re living in a fairytale?!”

“Tch.” The noise was audible, but it had been an accident. Her sister had given her a warning about her three issues – her mouth, attitude, and facial expressions – and how much trouble they were going to get her in.

These three years were going to be rough.

“It’s a fairytale to want to live in the walls for the rest of your life like some sort of animal, like a coward. I won’t apologize for wanting more for humanity, _Commandant.”_ Her last words were dripping in sarcasm as she spoke out about his cowardice.

Hearing the words leave her mouth grabbed Reiner’s attention, not expecting anyone to say such a thing to their superior. She sounded so sure that that’s what she wanted to do and was extremely unapologetic for it.

He found it intriguing.

Shadis suddenly grabbed her by her collar with both hands, slightly catching her off-guard. ‘ _Don’t react!’_ She internally screamed at herself. Biting her tongue – literally – seemed to be the only way she didn’t say anything more.

“You should learn how to hold your tongue. Being a smartass will get you nowhere. It may work for your sister, but it damn sure won’t work for you.” It seemed as if she hit a nerve within Shadis, a man who had been struggling with that fact that he was, in fact, a coward. But having a recruit call him out amongst other recruits wasn’t something he was going to allow. 

Once he placed her back on the ground he walked away to the next recruit. Her hands had balled themselves up into tight fists, her nails nearly piercing the skin on her palms. A soft, familiar hand made her stop before she impaled herself. Turning to see the familiar face of Mina caused her to slowly calm down. 

Mina Carolina had been her closest friend for the past few years. She was the only other person besides Kai who knew just how much trouble she really caused herself at times. If she were being honest, part of the reason she joined the military was to make sure Kai didn’t get into too much trouble.

After she took a few calming breaths, she looked ahead of her again, eyes now filled with annoyance and anger while Reiner’s eyes were now full of curiosity and amusement.

Avery’s outburst earned her a similar punishment to Sasha’s for eating a potato during formation. Both had been ordered to run until the sun went down in their uniforms, yet neither had seemed too bothered by it.

Once they had all been dismissed, Reiner couldn’t help but watch Avery throughout the day on her run. She made it look effortless like she wasn’t struggling in the slightest. In fact, he was sure she wasn’t which only made her more impressive. He could feel a slight grin tugging at his lips every time he saw her pushing forward. 

* * *

The next day they were being introduced to the concept of 3D gear. It had been something Avery was looking forward to for months. Based on the things she was told when she was younger, it was a surreal experience. 

“Like a bird.” She remembered her sister saying to her, that look of serenity on her face.

Avery wanted to take advantage of that moment to be in the sky.

“You’re actually able to stand?!” Mina exclaimed, her voice bringing Avery back down to Earth. 

“Huh? Why wouldn’t I be?”

“The Commandant made you run for _hours!_ ” Avery just stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out why that was such a big deal. That’s when she remembered Mina had only known her for 3 out of the 13 years of her life; she didn’t know about her past. 

“Kai used to wake me up early so we could get running in.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either.

“Wha?! She’s been prepping you for years then! Aw, I wish she would have trained me.” Mina’s voice was full of excitement as she started to put her friend’s curly black hair into a ponytail. 

“You’re joining the Garrison, aren’t you? You won’t have to worry about it being on the wall.”

“Well, sure, but if something like Shiganshina happens again, I’ll have to be ready, won’t I?” Even though Mina was so sure of her words Avery could tell she was dreading the thought. She wanted to say something reassuring to her but didn’t know how to without coming across as insensitive. 

Before she could think of anything, her name along with three others had been called up. 

Once she was strapped in, her fellow recruits lifted her from the ground. It took a split second for her to gather her bearings but once she had it was smooth sailing.

If you weren’t paying attention to her, you would miss the subtle smile she had on her face. The look of content you wouldn’t expect her to have after her outburst. You’d have thought her face would remain stoic like the other recruits.

The only person who caught it was Reiner, as he had found himself staring again.

Hearing a loud thud, she turned her head to see someone upside down. She recognized the brown-haired boy as one of the recruits who hadn’t gotten intimidated the day before. Once she was back on the ground and free to move about, she walked up to Mina again.

“Who’s the kid on his head?” She asked, pointing her finger in his direction.

“The one with the brown hair? His name is Eren Jaeger. He and his friends, Armin and Mikasa are from Shiganshina district where the Armored and Colossal Titan broke through the wall.”

“Sounds like you had a busy night.” 

“They saw Titans up close! Although now that I think about it, we may have been a bit insensitive. Eren and Mikasa’s mom got eaten by one. He keeps saying things like ‘I’m going to kill all Titans’ and that he’ll help Armin see the ‘sea’, which is some big water thing. Not sure where that is, but he seems determined to get there!”

Avery was just as confused about this ‘sea’ and where it was, but the thought of it would be put to the side for now.

“Well, if he can’t pass using the 3D gear, he won’t _see_ anything but the fields.” She joked, looking at her friend for recognition. Mina just shook her head.

“Your jokes are still lame.”


	3. Our First Encounter

The Eren Jaeger fan-club wasn’t the only thing Avery had missed during dinner.

Apparently, Mina had gotten to work on adding new people to their group. Avery wasn’t a new people person, her trust issues preventing any kind of relationship outside the one she had with Mina and Kai. Even when she first met Mina it had been a struggle; as much as she wanted the girl to go away, she always stuck around.

The two were sat at a table with Sasha, Connie, Jean, and Marco. Mina was making conversation, while Avery was looking them all over. How had Mina possibly begun to befriend these people already? There were a lot more personalities than she was used to dealing with.

“Avery! What does your sister do in Scouts?” She soon settled on Marco’s face, unsure of how to answer. It was a simple question with such a simple answer, but she was fighting the urge to tell him off.

“She’s a Section Commander! And super fearless too! I’m pretty sure she holds the record for Titan kills!”

“Ah, no she doesn’t. She says she's in competition with Captain Levi, but she hasn’t surpassed him yet,” Avery corrected. “Really she would be in second.”

“Why are you guys are so fascinated by Titans and killing them?” Her attention was then turned to Jean, who had a smug look on his face.

If she remembered correctly, he was the guy who stated he wanted the easy, pampered life inside the walls. It was one thing to want to join the Military Police to do something ‘honorable’ like Marco, but Jean wanted to be like all the other members of the Military Police she had run into. The thought of another scumbag in their ranks ticked her off, causing her to scoff.

“Beats wanting to be pampered your entire life. Tell us, Jean, does your mommy still wipe your ass?”

The smug look that was on his face slowly turned into a frown. Sasha and Connie started snickering, which only made things worse.

“What?! No!” He protested, slamming his hands on the table. Recruits from nearby tables looked over, listening in on the conversation between Avery and Jean.

“I mean, so long as you’re thanking her after I’m sure it’s fine.”

“You little- I’d rather not be Titan fodder like you’re going to be!”

“That’s what you don’t get. Without people like me, _you’d_ be the Titan fodder. Sitting behind walls waiting for the slaughter.” She said, voice filled with annoyance.

The girl had a certain disdain for cowards, the reason behind her speaking so out of turn to Commandant Shadis. Not only had Jean shown he was a coward, but that he was a scum bag too. She believed if someone just had to join the Military Police that they at least _do their jobs._ Marco showing his willingness was the only reason she hadn’t turned on him for his desire to join.

With his face red due to being flustered, Jean stood up and stormed away. Without missing a beat, Sasha quickly reached over and grabbed the bread that was remaining on his plate. Mina turned to the remaining members at the table and nervously chuckled.

“I swear she’s not always like this…”

They remained at the table, Avery barely participating in the conversations until the bell rang. It was time for them to get to their respective dorms for bed. Avery volunteered to put Mina’s plates away so she could go and watch the sunset with Connie and Marco. As she was about to leave the dining hall, she was approached by Reiner.

“I have a question.” He asked, arms crossed. She looked him up and down before pointing to the door.

“How about you walk and talk. I think one punishment from the old man is enough.” She stated, walking out of the dining hall anyway. Luckily, he hadn’t protested and instead walked next to her.

“What you said yesterday. It was pretty ballsy.” It was almost as if he were congratulating her, impressed with her even. She just shook her head and frowned.

“That’s not a question.”

“Right to the point? Okay. ‘Saving humanity from captivity.’ What does that mean? Who’s holding us captive?” He looked down at her as they passed by those who were slowly getting to the dorms. He wasn’t sure if he had been seeing things, but he could swear she was smirking.

“Titans, of course.” It was a simple response, but the tone of her voice made it clear to him that there was more to it. He stopped walking, causing her to turn around and look at him.

“What?”

“C’mon, there’s more to it. Tell me. What does that mean?”

“What makes you think there’s more?” He didn’t respond. The look on his face was enough to tell her that he was smarter than he looked, though she still wasn’t about to tell him anything.

“Good night, Reiner.” She stated, walking up the stairs to the girl’s dorm.

He hadn’t expected her to be so abrupt, reaching out for her, but it was too late. She had already entered the girl’s dorm and left him outside.

There was something about the way she said his name, unsure of how she had even learned it. She wasn’t sincere when she said ‘Goodnight’ considering she just wanted him to stop pestering her. But his name. She had changed her tone as soon as she got to his name… Or was he imagining that as well?


End file.
